Introduction / Story
Back when the N64 was launched (mid 1990s), Super Mario 64 was one of the most successful launch titles in history and now it comes to you also as a launch title for the Nintendo DS. Talk about deja vu!

There are lots of differences between the DS version and the N64, and it looks like a straight port, but there are many differences. Some of the most noticeable differences include more stars, stages, mini-games, rabbits, and 3 new playable characters.

You start off with just Yoshi, and you then rescue Mario, and so on. Another new feature in the DS version is that there are hats from unlocked characters all over every map, allowing you to do some things the default character cannot, e.g. Mario can’t destroy black blocks, but if you pick up Wario’s hat, you will be transformed to Wario and now you can destroy the blocks.

The story begins with 3 of the playable characters, Wario, Mario and Luigi. All 3 of them receives an invitation from Princess Peach to have a cake at her castle. So all 3 of them decides to enter the castle and have cake. Little did they know what was about to happen to them. Yoshi on the other hand, was sleeping and wakes up worrying about them. So Yoshi also enters the castle, and he finds out from Toad that Bowser has stolen all of the stars and locked them all inside various paintings inside the castle. Now it’s up to you to help guide Yoshi to help save his three buddies and the princess from the wraths of Bowser.

Gameplay – 10
The game style is the same as the original Super Mario 64 for the N64. You can do all the good old jumps, crawls, back flips, etc. Because of the new characters, some stars requires switching of characters that adds a new twist.

There are many stages and all of them now has 8 stars to be found. Each star has a requirement before you can get them, e.g. Bob-omb Battlefield’s first star requires you to destroy the King Bob-omb. If you meet the requirement of the star, you will the unlock it and it will fly to somewhere on the stage where you can grab it. There are about 150 stars to be unlocked in 15 different courses and some of those stars can be found in secret areas.

The control scheme of SM64DS is a lot different than the original N64 one. You no longer use an analog stick, but the D-Pad to move your character (it’s a pain to play this game on the DS Lite due to the bad D-Pads). You can also move your character by using the touch-screen (highly recommended in situations where you need to constantly spin around). There are 3 control schemes to be selected, and the buttons cannot be redefined, so it might take a bit of getting use to.

Graphics and Sound - 10
When you compare SM64DS’ graphics to a few of the latest game’s graphics, they’re pretty similar. But you must remember that this game out around late 2004, compared to the third quarter of 2006. So what does that mean? SM64DS had one of the best graphics when the DS became launched and still maintains it pretty well. The graphics are less jagged and much smoother than before with even more beautiful colors.

All the original and classic tunes are still here and improved even! Every tune from the original is here plus more new classic ones. With support for stereo and surround sound, SM64DS really shines. The sound effects are also dead on and I haven’t noticed any distortions. Even all the new characters have their own voices and sounds which are just as clear.

Replay – 10
SM64DS has so much to do even if you finish the story. There’s the mini-games you can play with a buddy through multiplayer DS mode and the 150 stars to be unlocked. Once you get 150 stars, you unlock the cannon outside the castle and there’s a huge surprise once you blast to the top of the castle =D.

You can always beat it over and over again like I did when I was a kid. Yes, the game is so good it will make you want to replay it over 10 dozen times!

Conclusion
One of the best games ever created gets a facelift plus new bonuses and modes exclusively for your Nintendo DS handheld. It’s still major fun just like when it first came out on the N64.

It’s perfect for people of all ages, young or old because this game will appeal to everyone no matter what kind of games they like. The controls are simple, the game itself loads of fun, so it’s definitely worth your money.